Student Scholarship Program

MASNA Student Scholarships

The 2019 – 2020 MASNA Student Scholarship Program is made possible by our generous sponsors LiveAquaria, Ecotech Marine, and Two Little Fishies.

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Latest Updates

April 22, 2019: The 2019 – 2020 MASNA Student Scholarship Program is open.

April 8, 2019: The MASNA Student Scholarship Program will be announced shortly.

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Application Details & Eligibility Requirements

We are proud to announce the 2019 – 2020 MASNA Student Scholarships. This year there are two scholarships available; one $4,000 scholarship for a college undergraduate student and one $4,000 scholarship for a college graduate student

To be eligible for a $4,000 MASNA Student Scholarship:

An applicant must be a current/entering undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited college or university.

The student must have declared a major/focus or have intent to declare a major/focus in one of the marine science disciplines.

Selection will be based upon the student’s academic history and the student’s contributions and demonstrated commitment to the marine aquarium hobby.

Successful MASNA Student Scholarship recipients must be able to travel to MACNA 2019 in order to receive the scholarship. Funding is available to assist each of the chosen applicants in attending MACNA.

North American students, no matter where they are studying in the world, as well as students from abroad, who are studying in North America, are eligible, as long as they attend/plan to attend an accredited college or university. MASNA recognizes these locations as being in North America.

The MASNA Student Scholarships are in U.S. Dollars.

Our ideal scholarship candidate:

1: Is seeking a degree in a marine science field.

2: Is active in the marine aquarium hobby.

3: Will be a full-time undergraduate or graduate student in 2019 – 2020.

4: Has a GPA above 2.5 / 4.0.

The 2019 – 2020 MASNA Student Scholarships will be publicly awarded to the recipients at the 31st annual Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA) in Orlando, Florida, from August 30 – September 1st.

A: Have your official transcripts of your current or most recent institution mailed to:

MASNA Scholarship

PO Box 105603 #18350

Atlanta, GA 30348-5603, USA

You can also have your current or most recent institution send your transcripts via secure email to Scholarship@MASNA.org. MASNA also has a receiving account for eScrip-Safe listed under “MASNA Student Scholarship, Scholarship Application”.

Previous MASNA Student Scholarship Recipient Bios:

2018 – 2019

Gabbie Baillargeon, Position when awarded: Junior at Roger Williams University in Marine Biology with a minor in Mathematics.

The 2018 – 2019 MASNA Undergraduate Student Scholarship recipient is Gabrielle (Gabbie) Baillargeon. Gabbie is a full-time Junior at Roger Williams University (RWU) and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology with a minor in Mathematics. In Gabbie’s freshman year, she volunteered in the RWU aquaculture lab, specifically in the copepod and algae department, as an introduction to aquaculture at a research institution. Currently, Gabbie is working on an independent research project with Dr. Andrew Rhyne, that aims to rank the sustainability of marine ornamental fish species in the aquarium trade which will culminate in the publication of this information in a user-friendly smartphone app. This will allow hobbyists to easily access species-specific sustainability information when choosing the next addition to their tank. In the future, Gabbie hopes to continue to focus her research on population dynamics in an effort to inform management policy.

Mike Connelly, Position when awarded: PhD Candidate at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, at the University of Miami.

The 2018 – 2019 MASNA Graduate Student Scholarship recipient is Michael (Mike) Connelly, who is attending the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, at the University of Miami, for his PhD in Marine Biology and Ecology. Mike also attended the University of Miami for his undergraduate studies and obtained his B.S. degree in Marine Science and Biology in 2016. As an undergraduate student, Mike served as president of the University of Miami Aquarium Club (UMAC) for two years, where he increased club membership to over sixty members while organizing club field trips to the Mote Marine Laboratory, Georgia Aquarium, New England Aquarium and Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. He also orchestrated the installation of a new 150-gallon display aquarium in UMAC’s main meeting room.Mike continued into the RSMAS Ph.D. program to work with his advisor Dr. Nikki Traylor-Knowles on research projects examining the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cnidarian innate immunity using the cauliflower coral (Pocillopora damicornis) as a model species. He built an 800-gallon recirculating aquarium system in their laboratory in Miami that is now used for culturing coral fragments and conducting experiments that investigate interactions between corals’ innate immune systems and bacterial microbiomes.

His Ph.D. research uses antibiotic treatments and heat stress to disrupt coral bacterial communities and examine the effects of bacterial community composition on coral immune gene expression patterns and stress response pathways. To further this project, Mike travelled to southern Taiwan to complete research at the National Museum of Marine Biology Aquarium (NMMBA) during the National Science Foundation’s East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) program last summer.

2017 – 2018

Mathias Wagner, Position when awarded: Senior at Ohio State University in Evolution and Ecology with a minor in Spanish.

The 2017 – 2018 MASNA Undergraduate Student Scholarship recipient is Mathias D. Wagner. Mathias is full-time senior at the Ohio State University and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Evolution and Ecology with a minor in Spanish. At home Mathias keeps a 30-gallon reef tank containing a pair of A. ocellaris anemonefish and a scarlet cleaner shrimp along with LPS and soft corals. He is also interning Columbus Zoo and Aquarium working at the Discovery Reef, which features an 85,000 gallon indo-pacific aquarium as well as a 5,000 gallon live coral system.

The focus of his internship at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is the advancement of captive breeding of aquarium fishes for both the public aquarium and hobbyist markets.At the university, Mathias volunteers in Dr. Andrea Grottoli laboratory, where they are investigating Hawaiian coral’s adaptability to levels of increased water temperature and acidity that are predicted to exist within 100 years. Mathias does this by measuring changes in coral photosynthesis and cellular respiration in Porites compressa and Montipora capitata specimens throughout experiments that induce bleaching and recovery. In the future, Mathias hopes to be able to continue contributing to captive breeding efforts either through a career within the field, or pursuing new research in graduate school.

Benjamin Titus, Position when awarded: PhD Candidate at the Ohio State University for a PhD in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology.

The 2017 – 2018 MASNA Graduate Student Scholarship recipient is Benjamin M. Titus, who is attending the Ohio State University for a PhD in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology. His dissertation is the “Comparative phylogeography in a multi-level sea anemone symbiosis: effects of host specificity on patterns of co-diversification and genetic biodiversity.” Towards his dissertation goals, Ben is collaborating with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to study and understand patterns of gene flow and genetic diversity along the Florida Reef Tract and Greater Caribbean for ornamental sea anemone and crustacean species. Focal taxa include: Giant Caribbean anemone (Condylactis gigantea), corkscrew anemone (Bartholomea annulata), beaded/flower anemone (Phymanthus crucifer), sun carpet anemone (Stichodactyla helianthus), yellowline arrow crab (Stenorhynchus seticornis), Pederson’s cleaner shrimp (Ancylomenes pedersoni), spotted cleaner shrimp (Periclimenes yucatanicus), and the Florida corallimorph (Ricordea florida). In addition, Ben is using DNA sequencing and molecular species delimitation techniques to determine whether the globally distributed sexy shrimp, Thor amboinensis, is a single circumtropical species or whether it is a cryptic species complex (i.e., multiple species). Ben has an extensive list of academic accomplishment including various funding awards, publications, and undergraduate mentoring. Ben’s ultimate career goal is to pursue an academic career as a university professor and establish a research program that focuses on the ecology and evolution of coral reef organisms harvested in the aquarium trade. Specifically, he’s interested in non-coral invertebrates for which there is very little molecular data.

2016 – 2017

Kory Enneking, Position when awarded: Senior in Marine Biology & Environmental Science at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Bio: Kory currently keeps three tanks at home and one at school. At school he maintains a 4-gallon mushroom and zoanthid system. At home he has a 55-gallon mixed reef, a 24-gallon biocube, and a 24” × 48” frag tank for zoanthid grow-out and bubble-tip anemone propagation. Kory believes that much in the world can be learned just as well outside, as inside a classroom.

Hands-on learning is certainly a hallmark of the marine aquarium hobby. With this in mind, Kory co-founded the UNC Wilmington Reef Club to help teach other students how to maintain marine aquariums by providing an avenue for them to physically interact with the systems they maintain, and not just read about them in books and blogs. Kory served as the Vice President and Social Media Coordinator for the club from 2014 – 2015.

Professionally, Kory wants to aquaculture marine aquarium organisms for both the aquarium industry and for conservation. He thinks that in the future farming species normally grown for the aquarium industry will diversify into various other sectors. Furthermore, Kory thinks that education at the high school and collegiate levels are paramount to guiding a change in how humans interact with the environment and usher in an age of environmental sustainability. In the near future, Kory hopes to pursue a master’s degree in aquaculture at the University of Florida.

Elizabeth (Liz) Groover, Position when awarded: M.S. candidate at University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Lab (TAL)

Bio: Liz received her Bachelor of Science degree from Roger Williams University (RWU) in Rhode Island. At RWU, Liz gained extensive experience in animal husbandry, live feeds culture, and fish larviculture while working in Dr. Rhyne’s lab. Her experience includes work with at least fifteen fish species, including the yasha goby (Stonogobiops yasha) that was successfully bred by Dr. Rhyne’s lab this past summer.

Liz used to keep a 20-gallon soft-coral-reef tank with a mochavinci Amphiprion ocellaris and an A. percula anemonefish, along with some other inhabitants. She also had a 30-gallon soft-coral tank with a breeding pair of black A. ocellaris. However, she traded those tanks in for the massive broodstock tanks at the TAL facility. At TAL, Liz is working on the captive reproduction, larval culture, and production techniques for three species of wrasse prized by the aquarium trade. In her own words “I’m really enjoying my first few weeks of grad school at TAL! [We are] already making some progress with the wrasses and it’s really exciting.”

After MACNA 2015 in Washington, D.C., Liz started a six month internship with Biota Aquaculture in Palau. At Biota Aquaculture, Liz was able to work and learn many facets of the marine aquarium aquaculture industry. Her experience there has influenced her greatly, and after finishing her master’s degree, Liz plans to get more hands-on, real-world experience by working at various marine aquarium aquaculture facilities around the world. She is interested in joining the Peace Corps and traveling to underdeveloped countries in the Pacific and Caribbean to help the local populations make a living through sustainable fish, clam, and coral aquaculture.

2015 – 2016

Tim Lyons, Position when awarded: Junior in Marine Science at the University of Florida

Bio: Tim Lyons graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida in April of 2016 with a study focus in ornamental aquaculture. During his last semester at the University of Florida, he completed his AAUS Scientific Diving Certification and was published in a scientific poster that was presented at the World Aquaculture Society’s annual meeting. He is currently seeking higher education in larval aquaculture, and plans to work towards a position as a hatchery manager.

Liz Marchio, Position when awarded: Ph.D. candidate in “Science as Leisure” at Texas A&M University

Bio: “I am a trained ichthyologist interested in what gets people interested in aquatic conservation and science. To explore this question I am utilizing leisure-based constructs to parse out different types of aquarium-keepers and their conservation and science-related attributes. By exploring different styles of participation in aquarium-keeping science and industry can better understand how to make the hobby more exciting, promote diversity, understand conservation-related mindsets, and promote aquarium-keeping as a scientific leisure activity. Having this basic knowledge about aquarists will help identify opportunities to improve and maintain the hobby for years to come.”

2014 – 2015:

Sam May, Position when awarded: Junior in Marine Science at the University of Miami.

Bio: Sam will be graduating from the University of Miami in April, 2016, and then pursuing a Ph.D. in population genomics and conservation genetics at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fisheries Science. He is working on salmon fisheries in Dr. Kerry Naish’s lab.

Ross DeAngelis, Position when awarded: Ph.D. candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Illinois.

Bio: Ross is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois that uses the anemonefish A. ocellaris to explore how social circumstances and group dynamics shape the brain and behavior of the fish. He hopes to understand the underlying neurological processes that govern these behaviors. “

2013 – 2014:

Drew DeLorenzo, Position when awarded: Senior in marine science and biochemistry at University of South Carolina.

Bio: “Drew DeLorenzo graduated from the University of South Carolina’s Honor College Summa Cum Laude with dual bachelors degrees in Marine Science and Biochemistry. He has since been named a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and Fulbright Finalist. Currently he is working on his PhD in the Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering Department at Washington University in St. Louis.”

Adeljean Ho, Position when awarded: Ph.D. candidate in marine biology at the Florida Institute of Technology.

Bio: “Adeljean received his PhD in the summer of 2015. After completing his doctorate, he travelled to Guangzhou, China and collaborated there with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) for a few months. Starting in Guangzhou, and now back in the US, he works on various syngnathid (seahorses and pipefishes) population genetics and evolutionary ecology projects. Adeljean is now a postdoctoral fellow at Bethune-Cookman University, where he manages an EPA study on mitigating nutrient pollution using native Florida vegetation. At MACNA 2015, Adeljean was elected to as the MASNA Industry, Legislation, and Ocean Conservation Director. To that extent he will co-run the MASNA Scholarship Program with the MASNA President.”

2012 – 2013:

Bobby Ortiz, Position when awarded: Senior in marine biology at Hawaiian Pacific University.

Bio: “Bobby graduated in 2013 from Hawaii Pacific University with a B.S. in Marine Biology. He is currently studying to be a veterinarian at University College, Dublin’s School of Veterinary Medicine in Dublin, Ireland.”

Zach Ostroff, Position when awarded: M.Sc candidate at Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center.

Bio: ” Zach is currently the curator of the Secrets of the Sea Marine Exploration Center where he is in charge of various displays up to 30,000 gallons (marine and reef).”

2011 – 2012:

Chris Jury, Position when awarded: Ph.D. candidate in oceanography at UH Manoa.

2010 – 2011:

Kristin Privitera-Johnson, Position when awarded: Junior in marine biology at CSU Long Beach.

2009 – 2010:

Brita Mjos, Position when awarded: Senior in marine ecology and environmental science at Western Washington University.